Interns have firm grip on Rams’ media duties

Throughout the season, the Los Angeles Times examines some of the behind-the-scenes jobs associated with the Rams:

After every practice, Coach Jeff Fisher stands in front of a Rams backdrop on the fields at Cal Lutheran University to speak with the media.

Behind the backdrop stands Kelsey Blosser, Vernon Dennis and Zach Welch.

Blosser has dreams of becoming the first female general manager in the NFL. Dennis and Welch have set their sights on becoming public relations directors of a professional sports team.

But for now, the three are the Rams’ communications interns and among their tasks is holding on to the backdrop as tight as possible, because if a gust of wind causes it to fall on Fisher, quarterback Jared Goff or one of the coordinators as television cameras roll … well, they don’t want to know what that could mean for their career aspirations.

“The most difficult or stressful part is just the backdrop,” said Welch, who graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and held a similar internship last season with the Kansas City Chiefs. “We’ve had a couple close calls, but nothing has fallen down yet.”

Said Blosser: “We all kind of get a little anxious.”

Blosser spends most of her week researching and fulfilling media credential requests. A former soccer player at Pepperdine University, she’s far from her end goal in the front office but knows her small tasks are a step in the right direction.

“Football has always been a passion of mine,” Blosser said. “It might not be the most glamorous job that you’re doing but it is a foot in the door.”

Dennis and Welch share several duties, which include updating player biographies and statistics after game days and seeking, sorting and distributing stories written about the organization.

“We send them out to the people in the organization so that people know the good and bad things being said about the Rams,” Dennis said.

Dennis, a graduate of Old Dominion, also is responsible to record every news conference so that the he and his cohorts can quickly transcribe what coaches and players say and distribute the transcripts to the media.

Transcribing is the most tedious and important aspect of the job, they say.

“If you don’t hit that record button then you don’t know what coach or the player said, transcripts won’t be able to get out and the media won’t be able to do their stories,” Dennis said.

Said Blosser: “It’s superimportant … People may think it’s an easy job but you want to make sure it’s really clear because one thing can lead to another or another media outlet can make it seem like coach was saying something else, when in reality it was complete opposite.”

Despite long hours and long weeks, Blosser, Dennis and Welch said rarely, if ever, does a day at their internship feel like work.

“It’s just a great job all the way around,” Welch said.